The Internet has been taken over by cats for a while now. Cat pictures, cat videos and lots of Instagram accounts that present the everyday lives of our furry friends.
Among the most popular of them, seems to be the Norwegian Forest Cat that seems to have become human’s favorite companion in Northern Europe.
If we look at the origin of the Norwegian Forest cat, it dates back somewhere between 1,500 and 4,00 years ago and it seems to be the result of natural selection.
They seem to become highly popular pets in Norway, Iceland, and France, although they almost went extinct during the 2nd World War.
Their origin story is also an interesting one as there are theories that the Vikings brought the short-haired felines with them and the mixture with the long-haired ones brought by the crusaders, resulted in the Norwegian Forest Cat.
Finnish breeders consider them mystical wildcats from fairytales.
According to Norse mythology, these cats were preferred by Freya, the goddess of love and they were so big that not even a god could lift them. It is almost certain that their origins are closely related to Vikings and their boats, but this does not mean they inherited their harshness.
Norwegian Forest cats in fact very calm, loving and fluffy creatures weighing up to 16 pounds. Their dense coat makes them very resistant to Nordic winters and their soft and loving personality will warm every cold heart.
